Call : 808-791-2923
Hawaii Americana Realty Serving Hawaii's Most Beautiful Beaches and Homes, and Serving Them To You!

Chinese developer plans mixed-use condo tower near Honolulu’s Ala Moana Center

March 5, 2016 By Mark G. Howard Leave a Comment

The “Hawaii City Plaza” project at 710 Sheridan St. near Walmart and Sam’s Club stores is expected to have ground floor commercial space, including retail and restaurants, as well as a parking podium that will be the foundation for a condo tower.

James Freeman, principal for Honolulu-based FSC Architects, who is the architect for the project, declined further comment on the development until it engages in the public process. He is scheduled to present plans for the Hawaii City Plaza project at Tuesday’s Ala Moana-Kakaako Neighborhood Board.

The condo is expected to include a mix of affordable and market-rate units.

The Hawaii City Plaza is being developed by Advantage America Hawaii Regional Center LLC as part of the EB-5 immigrant investor program, which has resulted in $8.7 billion worth of foreign investment in U.S. businesses over the past three years and has created more than 35,000 jobs in America, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

To be eligible for visas that can ultimately lead to green cards, foreign investors must invest $1 million in new businesses that create 10 jobs in the U.S. That threshold falls to $500,000 if the investment is made in a rural area or areas with higher-than-average unemployment.

The Hawaii City Plaza project has received approval from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism as a project that fits within the targeted employment area.

It will be located in the Ala Moana Neighborhood Transit-Oriented area, with the goal of trying to get greater density around the transit stations to create walkable and bikeable communities.

The Hawaii City Plaza developer, a group from Mainland China, already has two projects in the Los Angeles area, which are smaller, limited-service hotels. This would be their first project in Hawaii.

The 39,520 square feet — nearly an acre of land — at 710 Sheridan St. is zoned for a retail/condo development.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

Filed Under: Ala Moana Neighborhood Transit-Oriented, Blog, Featured Blog, General Real Estate, HONOLULU, Honolulu Tagged With: 710 Sheridan St, Ala Moana Neighborhood Transit-Oriented, Hawaii City Plaza

Slaying The Myths About Buying A Home

January 28, 2016 By Mark G. Howard Leave a Comment

SOME HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Interest Rates are still below historic numbers.
  • 88% of property managers raised their rent in the last 12 months!
  • Credit score requirements to be approved for a mortgage continue to fall. The 723 average score is the lowest since Ellie Mae began reporting on scores in August 2011.
  • The average first-time home buyer down payment was 6% in 2015 according to NAR.

Slaying-Myths-STM

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Blog, Hawaii Lenders, Home Buying, Honolulu, HONOLULU Tagged With: FICO, interest rates

More details revealed about $16M renovation of iconic Kaiser Estate in Honolulu

September 15, 2015 By Mark G. Howard Leave a Comment

New details have been revealed regarding the iconic Kaiser Estate in East Honolulu, including that plans include the construction of a new house on the property, according to public documents.

Kurt Mitchell, managing principal in Hawaii for Alaska-based RIM Architects, who is working on the project, gave an update to the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board in July.

He told the board that all residences are being renovated on the estate, and that each needs a special management area use permit, according to the board’s meeting minutes.

Mitchell also noted that the project includes renovation of the boathouse and main house, plus construction of a new house, which is less than 25-feet.

An environmental assessment has been filed with no significant impact found and the project falls within the state Department of Land and Natural Resources requirements for a certified shoreline, he said.

Mitchell told PBN in an email this week that he could not offer further comment on the project.

The Portlock estate, which was once on the market for $80 million, is undergoing a $16 million renovation by its owners Fred and Annie Chan, University of Hawaii graduates who made their fortune in the high-tech industry in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the environmental assessment.

The 5.4 acre estate, which was once owned by Kamehameha Schools and Japanese businessman Genshiro Kawamoto, was built by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser.

Duane Shimogawa
Reporter
Pacific Business News

Luxury_Oahu_Estates_$2M -_$3M
Luxury_Oahu_Estates_$3M -_$4M
Luxury_Oahu_Estates_$4M -_$5M
Luxury_Oahu_Estates_$5M -_$6M
Luxury_Oahu_Estates_$6M -_$8M
Luxury_Oahu_Estates_$8M – 10M
Luxury_Oahu_Honolulu_Condos

Filed Under: Blog, General Real Estate, Honolulu, HONOLULU Tagged With: Celebrity home Honolulu, Celebrity Homes Honolulu, Genshiro Kawamoto, Kaiser Estate, Luxury Estate Honolulu, Luxury Experiences Honolulu, Luxury Home Honolulu, Luxury Homes Honolulu, Luxury Honolulu, Luxury Living Honolulu, Luxury Mansion Honolulu, luxury real estate Honolulu, Luxury Villa Honolulu, LuxuryHomes Honolulu, LuxuryHomes.com Honolulu, Mansion Honolulu, Million Dollar Estates Honolulu, Million Dollar Home Honolulu, Most expensive Honolulu, Ocean View Honolulu, Penthouse Honolulu

Honolulu named 9th top U.S. destination this summer by Adobe

May 25, 2015 By Mark G. Howard Leave a Comment

Honolulu named 9th top U.S. destination this summer by Adobe

Honolulu named 9th top U.S. destination this summer by Adobe

Honolulu was named the ninth top leisure destination based on bookings and social media mentions, according to a new study by Adobe.

Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) recently published its 2015 Adobe Digital Index Summer Travel Report based on aggregated and anonymous data from Adobe Marketing Cloud. It found that January was the best month to fly to to Honolulu and while hotel room rates were cheapest in September.

The top five domestic leisure destinations this summer are Washington D.C., Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco.

In a separate report based on the responses of 1,000 U.S. consumer who have travel plans this summer, it found 7 percent year-over-year growth in online travel bookings, with overall spending for summer topping $65 million. It said the average consumer will spend $2,788 on their summer travel with 57 percent of that being online.

It said this would be the first year that purchases on smartphones will surpass purchases on tablets, and says $1 our of every $5 spent on summer travel will come from mobile devices.

Jason Ubay
Pacific Business News

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Blog, HONOLULU, Honolulu, Oahu, real estate in the news Tagged With: Honolulu, Oahu

Honolulu’s imported skyline

April 23, 2015 By Mark G. Howard Leave a Comment

A view of the Kakaako skyline on March 9, 2015

A view of the Kakaako skyline on March 9, 2015

There are at least 10 new high-rise condominiums at some point in their development in the latest building boom in Honolulu, from San Diego-based OliverMcMillan’s Symphony Honolulu to The Howard Hughes Corp.’s luxury towers, Waiea and Anaha. There’s no doubt that the Kakaako skyline will be changed forever by each building’s distinct design.

But as this new skyline is being created, there are some in the architecture industry who say that the local firms are not getting their fair share of the design work, with these rare experiences going to out-of-town firms.

The lack of work also has a financial impact related to it, which could tally into the millions, although no exact numbers were available for these contracts.

The Howard Hughes Corp., which currently has at least five towers in various phases of development in its 60-acre Ward Village master plan in Kakaako, has chosen design architects that are well known internationally, including Canada’s James K.M. Cheng Architects, Chicago-based Solomon Cordwell Buenz, Pennsylvania-based Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and New York’s Richard Meier & Partners Architects.

Cheng, who studied under Meier at Harvard University, is known for his condo work in Vancouver, British Columbia, while Meier is a Pritzker Architecture Prize winner who currently has high-rise residential towers going up everywhere from Taiwan to Tel Aviv.

While most of the design work is done by these internationally known firms, the Hawaii firms do get a piece of the action as the architect of record, which by state law, has to be a firm with a license to practice architecture in the state.

Also, Honolulu’s WCIT Architecture and Benjamin Woo Architects are involved in the design of Ward Village’s luxury high-rises, Waiea and Anaha, respectively.

Rob Iopa, president of WCIT Architecture, told PBN that he favors local firms getting the lead role in designing world-class towers in Hawaii.

Iopa noted that his firm likes to have more of a proactive role in designing than others.

“Sometimes, when you let big names come in, they would do the design,” he said. “We were an integral part of the design process of Waiea.”

The tower is designed in a way to showcase a story of two Hawaiian fishing gods, a father and son from Kauai, who stopped on every island to teach everyone to fish.

“They stopped in Kakaako and found this as their home,” Iopa said. “When the father passed, he gave his son five fishing tools that has been used by Hawaiians to fish. So the tower was designed with this story in mind.”

Having a big role in designing such a highly visible high-rise is a coveted role for many in the local architecture scene, and it’s something WCIT has recently experienced.

Iopa says that often, the developers themselves are not from Hawaii and turn to Mainland-based architecture firms they’ve used in the past and with whom they are comfortable.

“Sometimes for local developers, they may have a particular connectivity with a group that brings a certain look, and maybe they have made relationships with national firms they like to bring here,” he said. “I think there are lots of local firms that are trying to break that mold. I’m certain that there’s the talent here to do residential towers.”

John Ida, a founding partner of Urban Works Inc., told PBN that the local firms should get all or most of the design work. His firm has been located in Kakaako for about three decades, long before the current condo building boom.

“We do have talent here to do those kinds of projects,” he said. “It kind of gives us a bad image [that we aren’t], as if we can’t design great buildings here, but that’s not true. Hopefully it doesn’t put down the design community.”

Matt Gilbertson, president of Honolulu’s MGA Architecture, noted that every time a major project is awarded by a landowner or developer to a non-Hawaii firm it sends a ripple through the local architecture industry.

“Were we even given a chance to propose?” he asked. “A landowner has the right to do what they choose. There are no unions for architects and owners have a right to develop their site for whomever they want.”

Gilbertson pointed out that architecture is a competitive business, and the fact that Hawaii firms are getting left behind for the design work of these highly visible structures shows how the industry has to compete even harder for this type of work.

“Architects in Honolulu have been put in the second seat, unfortunately,” he said. “I’ve lived in multiple cities, and it’s not something Hawaii architects should be hyper-sensitive about. There are people who have chosen to play at the world stage.”

Craig Takahata, vice president and managing director of Honolulu-based WATG, which is trying to get more work in the state after years of putting more of its focus towards other markets, told PBN that he thinks the opportunities will eventually come.

“Interestingly, every developer asks to see your qualifications and work, so if some of the local firms don’t have that experience, they would need to get that experience elsewhere,” he said.

Seeking Talent

The Howard Hughes Corp. utilizes, on all of its high-rise projects, a pairing of a local firm with a Mainland or international firm for a number of reasons.

“We really made an effort to look for some of the most talented designers anywhere in the world, who are doing projects all over the world,” Nick Vanderboom, senior vice president of development for The Howard Hughes Corp.’s Ward Village, told PBN. “They bring a unique perspective and they have the best and brightest people working with them. Teaming local with international, we get the best results. We’re able to have a mixing of ideas and concepts.”

The Texas-based developer’s core buyer, which it says mostly comes from the Islands, really appreciates the uniqueness of an internationally known architect designing their first building in Hawaii, he said. It may even mean more than it might to project’s Mainland or international buyers

“We do that because it appeals to our buyers and creates an interesting skyline environment,” Vanderboom said. “It’s not always the same for every project. For our Ward Village Gateway project, we are very excited about bringing in Richard Meier to Honolulu. He has designed museums all over the world, among other things. For that project, we went through a very unique process. We did a request for qualifications to a lot of different firms and then shortened that list to four, eventually choosing Meier.”

He also noted that it worked and consulted with Paul Goldberger, an architecture critic who also is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine.

“He actually very rarely does work for private clients,” Vanderboom said. “He worked with us in divvying up proposals. That was an important part of the process selecting international firms.”

When selecting local firms, The Howard Hughes Corp. used a similar process as for the selection of the international firms.

Honolulu firms that are part of the architecture teams include WCIT Architecture for the condominium Waiea, Benjamin Woo Architects on Anaha, CDS International on 988 Halekauwila, and Architects Hawaii on the Whole Foods and Gateway projects.

“We are familiar with these firms,” Vanderboom said. “It was a very intensive and long process.”

New Ideas

He contends that it didn’t choose all local architects for its condo projects because the people it is working with are very specialized international firms with unique styles.

“There really is no one else in the world who does it exactly the way they do it, and if you’re looking for something truly unique, we find that by going to the international firms, it brings new ideas to the market,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we don’t have talented firms here. We really rely on them tremendously. It’s just looking to bring new and unique ideas and innovations. Ultimately, it will create an interesting skyline that appeals to retailers and potential residents who live in Ward Village.”

MGA Architecture’s Gilbertson says that The Howard Hughes Corp.’s mission certainly hasn’t been to showcase local architects.

“Their audience is a worldwide audience and to attract worldwide attention,” he said. “This is an international sale, not for local folks, the price tag in general.”

Gilbertson says it should be no surprise that The Howard Hughes Corp. has been talking to the top architecture firms in the nation and world, given that market-driven ambition.

“It just happens,” he said. “All small architectural environments like ours have to realize that, when the world market is watching, we have to take a back seat. It happened to me in Minneapolis. It is just part of the lay of the land.”

Choosing a Mind-set

In general, the choosing of a design firm comes down to the mind-set of the development and developer, where design is playing a role in the project, according to Gilbertson, who pointed out that if a design is a signature piece like Ward Village’s Anaha and Waiea, design is the differentiator.

“When it’s at an apartment building or affordable housing level in Honolulu and design isn’t a distinguishing characteristic, that’s when a local architect makes sense for the developer,” he said. “When they need to sell the sizzle on a world stage, they need to pull some considerable names. It doesn’t surprise me given the client, the luxury level [The Howard Hughes Co.] is trying to pursue.”

To Gilbertson, it’s not that Hawaii lacks talent in this area, but if an architect anywhere is great, and their work isn’t seen, getting noticed is tough to come by.

One way local architects can get involved is through the permitting or public outreach stages.

“Then there’s purely being a production architect,” Gilbertson said. “In the Mainland, there are designers and architects, designers design drawings and architects put it together. In Hawaii, architects do the designs in most cases.”

The only type of work his firm doesn’t do is high-rise condo work, mainly because it is a young firm, thus it does not yet have the reputation to do such towers.

“Doesn’t mean that we can’t do it,” Gilbertson said. “We would like to do high-rises. It’s a very interesting building type and design exercise. It’s one of the more sculpturally interesting building types.”

Not all the local architecture firms want to get involved in designing Honolulu’s newest skyline.

Honolulu’s Group 70 International, one of the largest architecture firms in the state, takes itself out of equation by avoiding high-rise condo work for a reason that may not occur to people outside of the industry — the issue of project insurance.

Without it, the firm is subject to possible lawsuits down the road.

“Condos have had a consistent track record of taking the contractor and architect to court,” Charles Kaneshiro, president of Group 70, told PBN. “If there is project insurance, we would be happy to get involved. It is significant enough [of an amount] that most developers won’t [get project insurance].”

He noted that developers or landowners have approached them to get involved in projects, but usually the question of project insurance for high-rises comes up.

“We do low and mid-rise projects without project insurance,” Kaneshiro said. “These are much easier to handle, dealing with fewer owners and it’s a smaller project in general.”

Urban Works also does not go after high-rise condo work.

“Our insurance doesn’t like [Association of Apartment Owners], so we haven’t gone for any high-rises that are condominiums,” Ida said.

Kaneshiro says that there is certainly enough talent in Hawaii to do high-rise condo work, but proving it is hard to do when the opportunity never arises.

But that’s why Group 70 recently hired Ma Ry Kim, a Kailua High School graduate, who was the former Gensler Europe design director.

“She has done high-rises and signature buildings,” Kaneshiro said. “Can people local do it? How many have had that opportunity to live in the places she’s lived and then come back to Hawaii? That’s a rarity.”

He said that one good thing about having internationally acclaimed architects in town designing buildings is that it raises the profile of architecture in the state, providing other design points of view on what a Hawaii building could be, or should be, something people can then debate.

“It gives us some variety here that we didn’t necessarily have in the past,” Kaneshiro said. “It gives developers a marketing strategy. There’s a lot of work out there for local firms to pursue as well.”

The American Institute of Architects, Honolulu Chapter, told PBN it does not have a position on the issue of high-rise condo work mostly going to firms not from Hawaii.

Locally designed landmarks

While many current high-profile high-rise commissions are being designed by Mainland or international firms, the Honolulu skyline does boast notable high-rises by local architects, including hotels, office buildings and condos, such as:


Locally designed landmarks

While many current high-profile high-rise commissions are being designed by Mainland or international firms, the Honolulu skyline does boast notable high-rises by local architects, including hotels, office buildings and condos, such as:

Hyatt Regency Waikiki
1976
Wimberly Whisenand Allison Tong & Goo (now WATG)

Admiral Thomas
1980
Warner Boone

Grosvenor Center
1981
(now Pacific Guardian Center, home of PBN)
Architects Hawaii

Honolulu Tower
1982
Norman Lacayo

Honolulu Park Place
1989
Norman Lacayo

One Waterfront Towers
1990
Warner Boone

Harbor Court
1993
Norman Lacayo

Moana Pacific
2007
Architects Hawaii

909 Kapiolani
2007
Media 5 Architecture

Capitol Place
2008
Benjamin Woo Architects

Hokua
2006
Benjamin Woo Architects

Sources: “Architecture in Hawaii, A Chronological Survey” by Rob Sandler and Julie Mehta; firm websites.

Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Blog, HONOLULU, Honolulu Tagged With: American Institute of Architects, Architects Hawaii, Harvard University, Howard Hughes Corp, Pacific Guardian Center, Talent The Howard Hughes, The Howard Hughes, Urban Works, Waterfront Towers 1990 Warner Boone Harbor Court 1993 Norman Lacayo Moana Pacific 2007 Architects Hawaii, Whole Foods

Honolulu among top 10 most inspiring cities for photographers

January 26, 2015 By Mark G. Howard Leave a Comment

If you live in Hawaii, you’ve likely got some impressive photos on your Facebook or Instagram feed.

Turns out, a lot of people here do, which is why a Florida-based website considers Honolulu one of the best places in the nation to snap a photo.

Printaholic.com put Honolulu on its list of top “10 Most Inspiring Cities for Photographers,” noting that “apart from the exotic scenery, photographers will love taking photos of Hawaiian architecture and culture.”

Other cities include:

Seattle, Washington
Portland, Maine
New Orleans, Louisiana
Savannah, Georgia
Portland, Oregon
St. Augustine, Florida
Newport, Rhode Island
Anchorage, Alaska
Ann Arbor, Michigan

http://khon2.com/2015/01/21/honolulu-among-top-10-most-inspiring-cities-for-photographers/

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Blog, Honolulu, Oahu, Oahu Island Tagged With: Oahu General Interest

CEO says Honolulu Seawater A/C project to start construction in August 2015

October 2, 2014 By Mark G. Howard Leave a Comment

Eric Masutomi, president and CEO of Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning, speaks to the audience about the project at the 2014 Asia-Pacific Resilience Innovation Summit and Expo on Wednesday in Honolulu.

Eric Masutomi, president and CEO of Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning, speaks to the audience about the project at the 2014 Asia-Pacific Resilience Innovation Summit and Expo on Wednesday in Honolulu.

The long-planned $250 million Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning project, which will cool Downtown Honolulu office buildings and condominium towers with cold water from the ocean, is slated to start construction by Aug. 1, 2015, and be operational by the first quarter of 2017, the head of the company said Wednesday.

Eric Masutomi, president and CEO of Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning — who also was a panelist at the Asia-Pacific Resilience Innovation Summit and Expo in Honolulu that covered the topic of seawater air conditioning — said that all of the project’s permits have been filed and the majority of them have been approved.

However, some still question if the project is ever going to happen, and Masutomi noted that this question is one he is asked frequently.

“It has taken us a while to get to this stage,” he said. “One person compared us to a purple unicorn, [saying] it will never happen. I’m here to tell you that it will happen.”

The dilemma for Honolulu Seawater A/C is getting customers signed up.

“The rumors of the project not happening hasn’t helped our cause, but we are engaging a strong marketing plan, offering pretty attractive incentives to motivate building [owners] downtown to sign up now rather than waiting until later,” Masutomi said. “Once capacity is reached, that’s it. It’s improbable that it can be expanded. If you wait, you will be looking at higher rates and if nothing else, it’s questionable about the availability of supply.”

The Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning project, which has signed up such customers as the Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, Hawaiian Electric Co., Finance Factors Ltd., First Hawaiian Center, One Waterfront Towers and Remington College, has capacity for about half the buildings in Downtown Honolulu.

The system will provide air conditioning to buildings in Downtown Honolulu by pumping deep ocean water through a pipeline more than four miles offshore to a cooling station in Kakaako.

The projects reducing electricity usage is the equivalent of a 30-megawatt wind farm or a 42-megawatt solar energy farm.

Duane Shimogawa Reporter – Pacific Business News

Filed Under: Featured Blog, Honolulu, HONOLULU Tagged With: Honolulu real estate in the news

Oahu home sales, prices rise in July

August 13, 2013 By idx guys Leave a Comment

Aug 7, 2013, 5:58am HST Updated: Aug 7, 2013, 7:27am HST
Duane Shimogawa  |  Reporter- Pacific Business News

The Oahu housing market remained positive in July, especially with it came to the number of sales for both single-family homes and condominiums, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

The median price of a condominium on Oahu in July rose 8 percent year-over-year to $345,500, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

The median price of a condominium on Oahu in July rose 8 percent year-over-year to $345,500, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

There were 290 home sales last month, a 9 percent increase from 265 sales in July 2012. The median sale price of a home last month was $647,500, which was 2 percent higher than the median price of $635,000 during the same time period last year.

Condo sales soared 17 percent last month to 426 sales, compared to 364 sales in July 2012.

The median sales price of a condo in July was $345,500, an increase of 8 percent from $320,000 in July 2012.

“Realtors are reporting that properties are selling quickly, making it more important than ever for buyers to be prepared by being pre-qualified for a loan, so when they are ready to make a purchase — they can act fast,” Honolulu Board of Realtors President Kevin Miyama said in a statement. “With the median sales prices rising compared to this time last year, especially for condominiums, on-the-fence sellers should consider listing their properties now to take advantage of the shortage of inventory on the market.”

Single-family homes were on the market for an average of 17 days and condos for 20 days, according to the days on market indicator.

While the market remains hot, it wasn’t as active and prolific as in June, when the Oahu housing market hit a new high with the highest median sales price — $677,250 — for single-family homes in more than five years.

Filed Under: Honolulu, Honolulu Board of Realtors Market Reports Tagged With: Honolulu, Honolulu Board of Realtors press release, Oahu market update, real estate in the news, Waikiki

Oahu homes hit highest median price in five years

July 8, 2013 By idx guys Leave a Comment

Jul 8, 2013, 10:23am HST

Duane Shimogawa  |  Reporter- Pacific Business News

Oahu’s housing market hit a new high last month with the highest median sales price for single-family homes in more than five years, according to statistics released Monday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

The $677,250 median price for a home in June was 9 percent higher than the $620,000 median price from the same time period last year. The previous peak was $685,000 in June 2007, which is just 1.1 percent higher than June’s figure.

The number of home sales rose 10 percent last month to 308 sales from 279 sales in June 2012.

Oahu’s condominium market also continued on its red-hot pace with double-digit percentage increases in both the number of sales and the median sales price.

In June, there were 392 condo sales, which was 15 percent more than the 342 sales in June 2012.

The median sales price of a condo last month was $330,000, an 11 percent increase from $297,000 during the same time period last year.

Home and condo sales also sold faster last month compared to a year ago with both categories on the market for a mere 20 days.

Filed Under: Featured Blog, Honolulu, Honolulu Board of Realtors Market Reports, Oahu home sales, Oahu real estate, Oahu real estate sales Tagged With: Honolulu Board of Realtors press release, oahu home sales

Condo Mania! – Jun 03, 2013 (The Honolulu Star-Advertiser – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX

June 6, 2013 By idx guys Leave a Comment

makikiLanikea. Hokua. Ko’olani. Capitol Place. Keola La’i. Moana Pacific. The Watermark. Allure Waikiki. Pacifica Honolulu. Holomua.

These condominium towers in Honolulu were the product of the last real estate market boom, which prompted developers to build close to 4,000 new units in more than a dozen towers that also included The Pinnacle, 909 Kapiolani and 215 N. King.

So is it shocking that developers are now planning to push out an even bigger number of high-rise homes — almost 5,000, including 1,000 rental units — in Oahu’s urban core?

To some observers it’s hard to imagine demand meeting such a supply.

But developers, along with a local economist and a real estate market analyst, contend that all the projects planned to date won’t produce a glut.

“It’s not a question of will there be enough buyers,” said economist Paul Brewbaker of Honolulu-based TZ Economics. “The problem is, will there be enough condos?”

Local real estate market analyst Ricky Cassiday said there may be two or three more towers in addition to what’s already been announced that conceivably could succeed in the market.

“We’re at this amazing moment in the cycle where everything is perfect,” he said.

Brewbaker and Cassiday say factors supporting a new boom in Honolulu high-rise housing development include record tourism that translates to lots of visiting prospective second-home buyers, a dearth of home construction in recent years, a strengthening economy and low interest rates.

Cassiday said 5,000 units sounds like a lot, but in his view there is enough diversification among the projects in terms of timing, pricing and occupancy (owning versus renting) to satisfy demand.

Relatively little current home construction in Oahu’s suburbs and the promise of the city’s planned rail line running near several of the announced tower projects are other factors that lead Cassiday to conclude that this building wave of new high-rise housing in Honolulu will be bigger than the last one.

Developers cite the response from buyers to the first three tower projects to hit this upward market cycle: Waihonua at Kewalo, One Ala Moana and 801 South St.

The first was Waihonua, a tower on Queen Street at the base of Pensacola Street that local developer Alexander & Baldwin Inc. started selling and building toward the end of last year.

A&B recently reported that 321 of the tower’s 341 units, which are priced between $375,000 and $1.9 million, were sold as of May 8, including 302 binding contracts that generated $33 million in nonrefundable deposits for A&B. Waihonua is slated to be completed by March 2015.

The second project was One Ala Moana, a 210-unit luxury tower atop the Nordstrom store parking garage at Ala Moana Center where units are priced from $583,000 to $9 million.

About 400 prospective buyers lined up in December for half those units made available publicly, while much of the other half was sold in Japan. All units sold, and construction began earlier this year on the project by local development firms MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group in partnership with Howard Hughes Corp.

At 801 South, buyers snapped up all 635 units priced between $253,200 and $501,300 in March, leaving about 300 lottery entrants empty-handed. Demolition began recently to prepare the site for construction of the project led by local affordable housing developer Marshall Hung.

Perhaps not surprisingly, A&B, MacNaughton/Kobayashi and Hung produced the initial towers during the last market upswing — Lanikea in Waikiki, Hokua in Kakaako and 215 N. King near Chinatown, respectively.

The next condo tower expected to launch sales is Symphony Honolulu, a 388-unit project on the mauka-Ewa corner of Ward Avenue and Kapiolani Boulevard, this summer.

After that, competition will become tighter with five more towers, all of which recently applied for permits from the state agency governing development in Kakaako, the Hawaii Community Development Authority.

Hughes Corp., the Texas-based owner of Ward Centers, plans three of the five with 900 units at its Ward property. Prices and names for the towers have yet to be specified, though one tower will be moderately priced to satisfy HCDA rules.

A&B plans one tower at the former site of a CompUSA store at the corner of South Street and Ala Moana Boulevard. This project with 466 units that include some townhomes is named The Collection. Unit prices range from the high $300,000s to the mid-$700,000s.

California-based Developer Franco Mola plans the fifth tower, just Diamond Head of Imperial Plaza on Waimanu Street near Cooke Street. This project, called 803 Waimanu, features 217 units priced from $249,000 to $586,000.

A sixth condo tower is planned on the outer edge of Waikiki on the Central YMCA property. This project, called Aloha Kai, is slated for 128 units and is seeking a zoning change from the city.

Also added to the whole condo mix are two rental towers. One, called Halekauwila Place, with 204 units, is under construction by local developer Stanford Carr. The other, called 690 Pohukaina, slated for 804 units, is planned by Ohio-based Forest City Enterprises Inc., which is negotiating with HCDA on a development agreement to build the project on state land.

“There’s a tremendous amount of demand for new housing,” said Ann Bouslog, longtime isle housing market analyst who recently joined Forest City as its development manager.

Cassiday predicts that the optimal window for delivering new residential high-rise projects in Honolulu is 2015 to 2017. Given that construction takes two years for a typical tower, that means starting within the next two years.

Brewbaker recently told a local business group that included a panel of developers that they will wish they had produced a new residential building before 2018.

As often happens, there may be more than one project that misses the upswing and either doesn’t get off the ground or gets caught in mid-development when demand disappears.

During the last boom there were at least seven towers with about 1,800 units announced that didn’t get developed. They included 1723 Kalakaua, which opened a sales office in 2008, another one nearby and a tower called Ko’olua next to Ko’olani in Kakaako.

Because lenders generally require developers to presell a substantial number of units before construction may start, a lack of demand can naturally limit how many planned projects break ground.

Permitting can also be a challenge. A&B pursued three towers in Kakaako Makai next to Kakaako Waterfront Park during the last boom, but that plan was derailed by public opposition and the Legislature.

Two projects that were under construction at the tail end of the last boom, Moana Vista and Allure Waikiki, failed and were taken over by lenders and then later revived by new developers. In Moana Vista’s case the tower became Pacifica Honolulu and was finished by San Diego-based Oliver McMillan, which is developing Symphony Honolulu with partner JN Automotive.

___ (c)2013 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser Visit The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at
www.staradvertiser.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

Filed Under: Featured Blog, Honolulu, New Condos for sale, New Homes, Oahu Communities, Oahu condos for sale Tagged With: new condo construction, new construction

Existing Users

Quick Search

Search Honolulu County Cities

Browse Oahu Real Estate by Price

Oahu Luxury Estates

  • Luxury Estates $10M plus
  • Luxury Estates $2M – $3M
  • Luxury Estates $3M – $4M
  • Luxury Estates $4M – $5M
  • Luxury Estates $5M - $6M
  • Luxury Estates $6M – $8M
  • Luxury Estates $8M – $10M

Kaka’ako High-Rise

Info

Ko Olina Beach Resort

Oahu Real Estate Listings

Oahu Luxury Condos

Waikiki By Price

© 2014 - Hawaii Americana Realty. All Rights Reserved. Hawaii Americana Realty fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each office is independently owned and operated. Subject to change without notice. While the information on this site is deemed to be accurate, Hawaii Americana Realty. does not guarantee its accuracy, and provides this information without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied. Hawaiian Americana Realty, Inc. 134 Kapahulu Ave., CUB, Honolulu, HI 96815 * by appointment only * RB20383 / RB20384